Bill Longmuir and Boonchu Ruangkit have sealed the final two spots available to European Senior Tour Members in next week’s US Senior PGA Championship in Colorado.
The pair secured their places in the field at Colorado Golf Club, in Denver, courtesy of their positions in the Senior Tour Order of Merit as the highest ranked players not otherwise exempt. They are part of a strong looking contingent of 26 Senior Tour Members overall that will cross the Atlantic to take part in the season’s first Major Championship.
Ruangkit is the runaway Order of Merit leader having won three consecutive events – in Brunei, Thailand and South Africa – and almost making it four when he finished joint runner-up in the Handa Senior Masters presented by The Stapleford Forum.
He is currently €65,143 clear of Roger Chapman in the race to succeed Sam Torrance as winner of the John Jacobs Trophy given to the Senior Tour Number One.
The Thai star has twice previously played in the US Senior PGA Championship, in 2007 and 2008, but will be looking to mount more of a challenge this time round given his stunning form on the Senior Tour in 2010.
With Chapman already exempt for his second US Senior PGA Championship, Longmuir edged out Bobby Lincoln to take the second and final spot after the Scot’s victory in the Handa Senior Masters presented by The Stapleford Forum.
Longmuir’s seven stroke victory at Stapleford Park – his eighth Senior Tour title - saw him move up 35 places to third in the Senior Tour Order of Merit.
That performance guaranteed him a sixth consecutive appearance in the US Senior PGA Championship where he will join an impressive line up of Senior Tour Members, including former Ryder Cup Captains Mark James, Bernhard Langer and Torrance.
James was the highest placed European last year in a share of ninth place at Canterbury Golf Club, behind winner Michael Allen.
